Evaluation of Some Management Procedures for Controlling Broodiness in Turkey and Muscovy Duck

The objective of this study was to evaluate pens switching, closing nest boxes after egg laying and nest boxes switching inside the same pen as management procedures for controlling broodiness in turkey and Muscovy duck breeders and their role in circulating prolactin. Black bronze turkey (n.= 350) and Muscovy duck (n.= 700) were randomly selected and housed on deep litter. The results showed a significant (P ≤ 0.05) increase in egg production in turkey and Muscovy duck breeders in response to pens switching and closing nest boxes after end of egg laying. While, there was no significant (P > 0.05) difference in egg production in response to switching of nest boxes in turkey hens but a significant (P ≤ 0.05) result was found in Muscovy ducks. On the other hand, there were significant (P ≤ 0.05) decreases in circulating prolactin level and broodiness in both turkey and Muscovy duck breeders in response to pen switching, closing nest boxes after egg laying and nest boxes switching. In conclusion, application of these management procedures was associated with increased egg production while decreased expression of broodiness (incubation behaviour) and circulating prolactin in turkey hens and Muscovy ducks

Fish biogeography in the â Lost Worldâ of the Guiana Shield: Phylogeography of the weakly electric knifefish Gymnotus carapo (Teleostei: Gymnotidae)

AimThe Guiana Shield region exhibits extraordinary topography that includes sheer, flatâ topped mountains (tepuis) atop an upland platform. Rivers of the eastern Pakaraima Mountains descend to Atlantic coastal lowlands, often traversing spectacular rapids and waterfalls. For fish species distributed in both uplands and lowlands, it is unclear whether these rapids and waterfalls present population or biogeographical boundaries. We sought to test this using the geographically widespread bandedâ electric knifefish (Gymnotus carapo) as a model.LocationThe Guiana Shield region of South America.MethodsWe sampled 60 Gymnotus carapo specimens from the Guiana Shield region, and 75 G. carapo and closely related species from other parts of South America. We sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and an intron from the nuclear S7 ribosomal protein gene, and used maximum likelihood and Bayesian treeâ building approaches to generate phylogenetic trees of haplotypes.ResultsHaplotype sharing is minimal between populations separated by elevational barriers. We found evidence for two main haplotype clades in the Guiana Shield: one distributed in Atlantic coastal regions that includes most lowland samples, and one inland that includes most upland samples. Inland Guiana samples are more closely related to samples from the Amazon basin than to those of Atlantic coastal regions. A single sample from Tafelberg tepui in Suriname was most closely related to the Atlantic coastal lineages.Main conclusionsRiverine barriers that result from steep elevational gradients in the Guiana Shield inhibit gene flow between uplands and lowlands, even for a widely distributed species. Biogeographical relationships of Guiana Shield G. carapo are complex, with most upland lineages showing affinities to the Amazon basin, rather than to nearby lowland drainages of the Atlantic coast.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142908/1/jbi13177.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142908/2/jbi13177_am.pd

The Effects of Index Changes on Stock Trading: Evidence from the EGX

We examine the effects on firm price, volume and liquidity following changes in the composition of the Egyptian Stock Exchange main market index EGX30 over the period 2005-2015. The indexing methodology of the EGX30 is independent from performance criteria and allows us to test competing hypothesis that explain behaviors accompanying index changes. We find an asymmetric effect on deleted versus added firms supporting the downward slopping and investor awareness hypothesis. Firms added to the index experience significant price increases in the run-up window, trading volume effects in the run up and post change windows and enhanced liquidity which are not reversed in the post change period. Price and liquidity effects are not evident in deleted firms

Fish Biogeography In The “Lost World” Of The Guiana Shield: Phylogeography Of The Weakly Electric Knifefish Gymnotus Carapo (Teleostei: Gymnotidae)

Aim: The Guiana Shield region exhibits extraordinary topography that includes sheer, flat-topped mountains (tepuis) atop an upland platform. Rivers of the eastern Pakaraima Mountains descend to Atlantic coastal lowlands, often traversing spectacular rapids and waterfalls. For fish species distributed in both uplands and lowlands, it is unclear whether these rapids and waterfalls present population or biogeographical boundaries. We sought to test this using the geographically widespread banded-electric knifefish (Gymnotus carapo) as a model. Location: The Guiana Shield region of South America. Methods: We sampled 60 Gymnotus carapo specimens from the Guiana Shield region, and 75 G. carapo and closely related species from other parts of South America. We sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and an intron from the nuclear S7 ribosomal protein gene, and used maximum likelihood and Bayesian tree-building approaches to generate phylogenetic trees of haplotypes. Results: Haplotype sharing is minimal between populations separated by elevational barriers. We found evidence for two main haplotype clades in the Guiana Shield: one distributed in Atlantic coastal regions that includes most lowland samples, and one inland that includes most upland samples. Inland Guiana samples are more closely related to samples from the Amazon basin than to those of Atlantic coastal regions. A single sample from Tafelberg tepui in Suriname was most closely related to the Atlantic coastal lineages. Main conclusions: Riverine barriers that result from steep elevational gradients in the Guiana Shield inhibit gene flow between uplands and lowlands, even for a widely distributed species. Biogeographical relationships of Guiana Shield G. carapo are complex, with most upland lineages showing affinities to the Amazon basin, rather than to nearby lowland drainages of the Atlantic coast

Mitochondrial Genomes Of The South American Electric Knifefishes (Order Gymnotiformes)

Three complete mitochondrial genomes of South American electric fishes (Gymnotiformes), derived from high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), are reported herein. We report the complete mitochondrial genome of the bluntnose knifefish Brachyhypopomus n.sp. VERD, determined from newly sequenced data. We also provide the complete mitochondrial genomes for Sternopygus arenatus and the electric eel Electrophorus electricus, assembled from previously published transcriptome data. The mitochondrial genomes of Brachyhypopomus n.sp. VERD, Sternopygus arenatus and Electrophorus electricus have 13 protein-coding genes, 1 D-loop, 2 ribosomal RNAs and 22 transfer RNAs, and are 16,547, 16,667 and 16,906 bp in length, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the eight available mitochondrial genomes of gymnotiform fishes shows Apteronotus to be the sister lineage of other gymnotiformes, contradicting the “Sinusoidea” hypothesis that Apteronotidae and Sternopygidae are sister taxa

Predictors of the unfavorable outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients treated with alteplase, a multi-center randomized trial

Abstract Worldwide, stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability in adults. Alteplase is the only approved treatment for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and results in an improvement in a third of treated patients. We evaluated the post-stroke unfavourable outcome predictors in alteplase-treated patients from Egypt and Saudi Arabia. We assessed the effect of different risk factors on AIS outcomes after alteplase in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Our study included 592 AIS alteplase-treated patients. The relationship between risk factors, clinical presentation, and imaging features was evaluated to predict factors associated with poor outcomes. An mRS score of three or more was used to define poor outcomes. Poor outcome was seen in 136 patients (23%), and Patients with unfavourable effects had significantly higher admission hyperglycaemia, a higher percentage of diabetes mellitus, cardioembolic stroke, and a lower percentage of small vessel stroke. Patients with higher baseline NIHSS score (OR 1.39; 95% CI 1.12–1.71; P = 0.003), admission hyperglycaemia (OR 13.12; 95% CI 3.37–51.1; P < 0.001), and post-alteplase intracerebral haemorrhage (OR 7.41; 95% CI 1.69–32.43; P = 0.008) independently predicted unfavourable outcomes at three months. In AIS patients treated with alteplase, similar to reports from other regions, in patients from Egypt and Saudi Arabia also reveal that higher NIHSS, higher serum blood sugar, and post-alteplase intracerebral haemorrhage were the predictors of unfavourable outcomes three months after ischemic stroke. Trial registration: (clinicaltrials.gov NCT06058884), retrospectively registered on 28/09/2023

DNA barcoding reveals the diversity of sharks in Guyana coastal markets

<div><p>ABSTRACT A fundamental challenge for both sustainable fisheries and biodiversity protection in the Neotropics is the accurate determination of species identity. The biodiversity of the coastal sharks of Guyana is poorly understood, but these species are subject to both artisanal fishing as well as harvesting by industrialized offshore fleets. To determine what species of sharks are frequently caught and consumed along the coastline of Guyana, we used DNA barcoding to identify market specimens. We sequenced the mitochondrial co1 gene for 132 samples collected from six markets, and compared our sequences to those available in the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) and GenBank. Nearly 30% of the total sample diversity was represented by two species of Hammerhead Sharks (Sphyrna mokarran and S. lewini), both listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Other significant portions of the samples included Sharpnose Sharks (23% - Rhizoprionodon spp.), considered Vulnerable in Brazilian waters due to unregulated gillnet fisheries, and the Smalltail Shark (17% - Carcharhinus porosus). We found that barcoding provides efficient and accurate identification of market specimens in Guyana, making this study the first in over thirty years to address Guyana’s coastal shark biodiversity.</p></div

In Silico Prediction of a Multitope Vaccine against Moraxella catarrhalis: Reverse Vaccinology and Immunoinformatics

Moraxella catarrhalis (M. catarrhalis) is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause serious respiratory tract infections and middle ear infections in children and adults. M. catarrhalis has demonstrated an increasing rate of antibiotic resistance in the last few years, thus development of an effective vaccine is a major health priority. We report here a novel designed multitope vaccine based on the mapped epitopes of the vaccine candidates filtered out of the whole proteome of M. catarrhalis. After analysis of 1615 proteins using a reverse vaccinology approach, only two proteins (outer membrane protein assembly factor BamA and LPS assembly protein LptD) were nominated as potential vaccine candidates. These proteins were found to be essential, outer membrane, virulent and non-human homologs with appropriate molecular weight and high antigenicity score. For each protein, cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), helper T lymphocyte (HTL) and B cell lymphocyte (BCL) epitopes were predicted and confirmed to be highly antigenic and cover conserved regions of the proteins. The mapped epitopes constituted the base of the designed multitope vaccine where suitable linkers were added to conjugate them. Additionally, beta defensin adjuvant and pan-HLA DR-binding epitope (PADRE) peptide were also incorporated into the construct to improve the stimulated immune response. The constructed multitope vaccine was analyzed for its physicochemical, structural and immunological characteristics and it was found to be antigenic, soluble, stable, non-allergenic and have a high affinity to its target receptor. Although the in silico analysis of the current study revealed that the designed multitope vaccine has the ability to trigger a specific immune response against M. catarrhalis, additional translational research is required to confirm the effectiveness of the designed vaccine